towards a sustainable reclamation for hong kong · towards a sustainable reclamation for hong ......

HKIE Environmental Division 2010 Environmental Paper Award

Towards A Sustainable Reclamation for Hong Kong

Albert Cheng Ting Ning, JP Project Manager HKSAR Highways Department

Aaron Bok Kwok Ming, Chief Engineer HKSAR Highways Department

Daman Lee, Director Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited

K K Yin, Director Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited

Synopsis

The call for sustainable development within the built environment has often been the lead

priority amongst many of today’s governments’ agenda globally. Hong Kong is of no

exception for this course, and has often led in many of its policies. The Hong Kong Zhuhai

Macao Bridge (HZMB), being one of ten major infrastructure project announced by the Chief

Executive’s Policy Address, is poised to embrace the principle of sustainability for its

reclamation.

The HZMB Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facility (HKBCF) will be located on an artificial

island of approximately 150 hectares to be reclaimed in a sustainable manner. The

methodology for both the construction of the seawall and the main reclamation area will

ensure that the marine soft compressible material remains intact during the process of land

formation; i.e. a fully non-dredge reclamation - the first ever method adopted in Hong Kong.

No dumping of marine sediments is thus required. With this design sandfill consumption,

suspended particles and marine traffic during construction can be significantly reduced. The

seawall will be made up of individual circular steel cellular units and physically connected

with arc units to form the peripheral retaining structure for the main reclamation. To achieve

stability, ground improvement technique using stone column shall be installed to render the

subsoil’s enhancement in strength parameters.


Over 60% of the main reclamation shall be filled with public fill material from various

sources in Hong Kong. The rationale for this approach is to mitigate potential saturation of

existing fill banks as well as re-exportation of public fill to the neighbouring Mainland areas.

Liaison work between the various government agencies as well as statutory bodies is vital to

achieve the balance.

The team’s aim is to improvise a sustainable reclamation within the realms of Hong Kong

statutory requirements and set the landmark methodology for future reclamation in the

territory. This paper reflects the team’s effort in introducing the methodology, driving the

approach, solving the major constraints, and arriving unanimous consensus among the

various government agencies to procure a fully sustainable reclamation for Hong Kong.

Introduction

A Brief Account

When the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge (HZMB) officially opens in 2016, it will

represent the culmination of engineering, economic policies and strategies of the three

governments of Hong Kong, China and Macao. It is an explicit commitment to the

attainment of high levels cooperation within the Pearl River Delta in the 21st century. Within

it, an equally arduous task is to imagine the engineering challenges ahead to make the project

a reality.

This essay reinforces the general approach, undertaken by the team, for a part of the HZMB

which forms the first portion to be constructed in Hong Kong. Concerning issues included

the need for development growth and the environment, for which the authors attempted to

establish compatibility for material progress and respect for the physical environment. The

first portion being the reclamation of an island to form approximately 150 hectares of land to

house the boundary crossing facilities as well as infrastructure networks. In arriving this, the


team looked into the various existing methodologies, both in and outside Hong Kong, before

subscribing to an option that has least impact on the environment and in a sustainable manner.

As this is the first of its kind in Hong Kong, the team’s efforts included indistinguishable

struggle to convince peer authorities in a professional manner. The achievements and

benefits of such struggle will see the re-shaping of future reclamations within the Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

One of the underlying principles for this paper is the idea that industry is dependent both on

natural resources and on the capacity of the environment to accommodate the waste which it

generates. The sustained development of industry is, therefore, dependent on the continued

existence of the source and functions of the natural environment. This analysis was the

starting point in the consideration of various strategies that could incorporate these concerns

into its hitherto narrower focus for economic, industrial and development growth.

Global Reclamation

Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea

or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground. The creation of new land

was for the need of human activities. This phenomenon is most explicit in Hong Kong due to

land scarcity, figure 1. Over 68 square kilometres of our developable land came from

reclamation.

Notable examples in the West include large parts of the Netherlands; parts of New Orleans

(which is partially built on land that was once swamp); much of San Francisco's waterfront

has been reclaimed from the San Francisco Bay; Mexico City (which is situated at the former

site of Lake Texcoco); Helsinki (of which the major part of the city center is built on

reclaimed land); the Cape Town foreshore; the Chicago shoreline; the Manila Bay shoreline;

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts; Battery Park City, Manhattan; Liberty State Park, Jersey


City; the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium; the southwestern residential area in Brest, Belarus,

the polders of the Netherlands; the Toronto Islands, Leslie Street Spit; and the waterfront in

Toronto, just to name a few.

In the Far East, Japan, the southern Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macao, the

Philippines capital Manila, and the city-state of Singapore, where land is in short supply, are

also famous for their efforts on land reclamation. One of the earliest was the Praya

Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land in 1890 along Hong

Kong’s Central waterfront during the second phase of construction. It was one of the most

ambitious projects ever taken during the then Colonial Hong Kong era, ref 1.

Figure 1 Reclamation in Hong Kong at a glance

Artificial islands are examples of land reclamation. Creating an artificial island is an

expensive and risky undertaking. It is often considered in places that are densely populated

and flat land is scarce. Kansai International Airport (in Osaka) and Hong Kong International

Airport are examples where this process was deemed necessary. The Palm Islands, The

World and hotel Burj al-Arab of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are other examples of

artificial islands.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Hong_Kong_reclamation.�


Sustainable Reclamation

With so many examples of reclamation undertaken globally, there is a need to seek a holistic

approach in this age of sustainable development. This paper seeks the various ways and

means to fully encapsulate the principle of sustainability for a 21st century mega project

undertaken by the HKSAR government. This collection represents the fruits of the team’s

research on industry and environment. It examines environmental issues from an industrial

policy perspective. The paper combines the insights of a multidisciplinary team, committed

to the twinning and intimately related imperatives of industrial development and

environmental sustainability. Our efforts represent a beginning and an important objective to

be addressed if this work is the catalyst for further research/methodologies.

Metamorphisms of Reclamation

Historically, reclamation in Hong Kong has been concentrated along the coastline of

Kowloon and Hong Kong. The waterfront development in Hong Kong has a long history.

Before 1984, thirty-three square kilometres had been added to Hong Kong by waterfront

reclamation. Since that time the amount of reclamation is equal to all the reclamation done in

the city from 1945. The need for more land of various kinds continues to grow steadily in

both scale and diversity. Victoria Harbour, and Hong Kong itself, have experienced several

distinct eras whereby forces and demands have changed the water/land edge, reshaping both

the harbour and the city, figure 2. Hence, there is a need to subscribe to a holistic

reclamation process and propose design principles and parameters to create a new basis for

thinking about this edge definition over the next era of evolution.


Figure 2 A brief account of reclamation

The metamorphosis of reclamation for Hong Kong, includes nominal dredging for seawall

and undredge reclamation with no ground improvement to the fully dredge seawall and full

dredge reclamation with ground improvement. In view of the depleting dump sites within the

Hong Kong waters, and in view of the environmental requirements, reclamation in recent

years often adopted the partially dredge method, that is, a fully dredge seawall with an

undredge reclamation with ground improvement.

The HZMB HKBCF, in response to the government’s call for sustainable development, has

subscribed to a holistic approach in reclamation for Hong Kong. This new approach negates

any form of dredging or disturbance in the seabed, thus maintaining the natural environment

and ecosystems deep in the seabed. It also avoids the need to disposing the dredge materials

which has a possibility of being a contaminated material and the need to infill for the seawall

since the seabed is intact.

The Context of Choice

The factors limiting the choices in the move to promulgate a sustainable approach for

reclamation is not without the pressure of the countervailing forces. The options available to


the current methodologies in reclamation have never been greater, as reflected by the

saturation in capacity of the fill banks in Hong Kong and the sourcing of designated dump

pits for the ‘storage’ of dredge marine sediments. It begs the question of, “would promoting

expanded choices put the advocator in the driver’s seat when, according to some opponents,

that is exactly the position they need to abandon?”. One way to partially reconcile the

dilemma between the norm and the emerging views of choice is to first acknowledge that

prevailing sustainable approach is not an all or none phenomena.

A major obstacle to implement a chosen principle remains the limited support options

available today within the community. Altering the situation requires moving the mind-set

of stakeholders and market response to the new methodology. This is a process in which the

team meticulously convinced the governing bodies, stakeholders and community, at large,

over a period of the consultancy agreement prior to implementation.

Engineering Difficulties

Brief Geology of Site

The HKBCF lies to the east of the Chek Lap Kok Airport Island in an area of known complex

ground conditions. The major superficial deposits include marine deposits and alluvial

deposits with total thickness averaged at 45m.

The marine deposits generally comprise a relatively uniform layer of silty clay with thickness

ranging between 7m to 30m, with the greatest thickness occurring towards the west side of

the reclamation, figure 3. This layer includes both the Hang Hau Formation, typically present

between sea bed level and approximately -20mPD, as well as localised deposits of the Pok

Liu Formation. The latter is typically associated with eroded channels and areas of acoustic

masking identified during geophysical surveys. The marine deposit layer is generally

described as relatively homogenous very soft to soft, greenish grey silty clay and has a high


void ratio averaged at approximately 2.1 and high water content ranging from 60% to

100%. Towards its base, occasional layers of sand and gravel have been identified in the

cone penetration tests. Shell fragments are found throughout its sequence.

Figure 3 Cross sectional profile of geological stratification

The alluvial sediments beneath the marine deposits are more variable in terms of the

composition and include inter-fingered layers of soft to firm sandy and/or silty clay, clayey

silt and dense sand and gravels with cobbles. The presence of eroded and infilled channels

within the alluvial deposits further adds to their complexity and variability. In general, the

combined thickness of the various alluvial layers ranges between 12m to 30m and appears to

thicken towards the east.

Non-dredge Seawall

The procurement of non-dredge seawall is not a novelty but this has not been attempted in

Hong Kong in the past. Numerous attempts were made by different practitioners in Hong

Kong to use ground improvement methods such as Deep Cement Mix (DCM), Sand

Compaction Piles (SCP), Jet Grouting (JG) to name a few. However, all have failed to

materialise because of the need for a major pilot trial scheme before getting the

environmental approval.


As in any major project, there is a need to provide a feasible and viable option under the

HKBCF whilst adhering to the principle of cost-effectiveness. The team looked into the

various tangible issues that circumscribes both design and construction constraints. The final

scheme adopted for the non-dredge seawall is a steel cofferdam of 31.5m in diameter and an

average height of 34.0m. Each cofferdam is made up of approximately 200 numbers of

500mm by 12.7mm flat steel plate. The cofferdam can be made to be installed insitu or via

the prefabrication, and installation is achieved via simultaneous vibration of individual plate

into the seabed; and terminating 5m into the Alluvium for base stability, figure 4 (a) and (b).

Prior to installation of the steel cofferdam, stone columns were constructed to ‘improve’ the

surrounding soft Marine Deposits, figure 5. The purpose of the stone columns is to render the

surrounding soil a minimum strength during the eventual installation of the steel cofferdam


Figure 5 Stone Column as ground improvement technique

Design Principles

The design principles rely heavily on stability of the structure within the surrounding soft soil

environment. Engineering judgements as well as first principles were sought in the wake of

this unconventional approach.

The steel cellular structures are designed as gravity retaining structures to maintain their

stability against forward sliding, overturning, bearing failure and global instability. As

gravity structures embedded in soft ground, it is imperative to maintain ¨rigidity〃 of the

cellular structures. To complement the non-dredge initiative for this seawall, stone columns

will be installed inside the cellular structure to improve the properties of the existing ground

material instead of excavation and replacement.

Seawall stability has to be maintained at all stages of construction, particularly when

surcharge loading is in place behind the seawall. For conventional seawalls, stability is

normally derived from the weight of the seawall. However, additional measures are required

in this non-dredge seawall due to the nature and thickness of the soft marine clay which is

still in place. Rock fill sloping berms with stone columns are proposed at the front of the

cellular structures to provide additional weight and to improve soil properties on the passive

Stone Column


side. Construction time rates and pause periods behind seawall have also been painstakingly

reviewed to allow gain in shear strength within the soft clays.

Another interesting point in the design is that the weakest plane at the base of the cellular

structure is not horizontal as normally found in conventional gravity wall. Instead the shear

surface develops as a convex failure surface between the toes inside the cellular structures as

manifested in the numerical results in PLAXIS, figure 6 (a) and (b). A 3-dimensional

structural model using Oasys GSA was also set up to complement the numerical analysis and

to determine the structural effects of the cellular structure, figure 6 (c).

Figure 6 (a) Numerical Analysis by Plaxis

Figure 6 (b) Numerical Analysis by Plaxis, displacement vectors

Slip Plane


Figure 6 (c) 3D Structurtal modelling

Corrosion protection is a key consideration for steel structures in marine environment.

Although there are a number of protective measures available, there is no track record of

these measures being used in cellular structures in Hong Kong. Instead the cellular structures

with sloping rockfill berm at the front have been carefully designed to ensure its robustness in

the long term when the steel structures corrode, i.e. without relying on the steel structures.

However, the team at the frontier of engineering development wholeheartedly believes that

local knowledge of using corrosion protection on this type of steel marine structure should be

widened to facilitate future application. Corrosion protection(anodic) is therefore proposed

for a 100m-long section of seawall for long term monitoring, inspection and testing.

Construction Principles

The construction method is perhaps the most challenging aspect in this undredge

methodology. The engineers have provided the envisaged construction techniques, with due

compliance to the site constraints, in particular, the Airport Height Restriction by Civil

Aviation Department and the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar from Hong Kong

Observatory. In addition, the marine operation is also weather dependent. Hence, it is a

combination of a tight construction programme and needs to coordinate each operation with

the various stakeholders in the vicinity of the site.

Bending Stress for Cell and Arc


To ensure aeronautical and marine safety, the engineers have introduced two installation

techniques for the undredge seawall. The steel cofferdams can be either prefabricated or

installed insitu, figure 7 (a) and (b). Given the prevalent weather dependency, it is envisaged

that most of the cofferdam can be prefabricated whereas some may need to be installed insitu.

Figure 7 (a) A Schematic prefabrication yard

It is anticipated that the prefabrication yard to be stationed within the site to avoid the long

haulage distance. The average cofferdam is approximately 450 tonnes once in full fabrication,

and manoeuvring it requires careful control. Longer routes are not favoured in the view of

the marine risks. The maximum haulage distance is approximately 1 nautical mile, with an

average speed of 2 knots. Once the cofferdam is lifted to the exact location, it will be

‘pitched’ via optical theodolite and GPS to fix the position. The cofferdam will then be

vibrated simultaneously into the seabed before terminated in a stable stratum. Filling of the

void portion of the cofferdam shall be carried out immediately upon the completion of

installation, to ensure the gravity structure is stable from the sea currents.


For insitu installation, the operation will be carried out if the AHR imposes the height

restriction. The conventional installation of steel sheetpile is envisaged except in a marine

environment. The difficulty for this manoeuvre is the splicing and welding of the sheetpile to

provide the necessary length.

Figure 7 (b) A schematic insitu installation

Sustainable Approach

It is the unquestioned desire of man that the sea be allowed to remain in its natural state,

clean and unpolluted. However, pollution in one form or another has continued for many

years, making in necessary for many countries to introduce legislation to protect the sea.

Hong Kong is no exception, and restrictions with regard to marine works and waste disposal

have been tightened.

The sitting of the current HKBCF has undergone numerous studies since its inception. The

final site selection study was undertaken since 2008, with the HKBCF to be located to the

eastern shore of the Hong Kong International Airport. The location is governed by a series of

consideration, namely the connectivity, environmental and ecological, economic benefits,


social etc. Culminating from study is a man-made island, some 150 hectares, to

accommodate modern day boundary crossing facilities as well as adequate provision of traffic

stoppage and circulation. Acknowledging the need to dredge millions cubic metres of

sediments, replacing them with marine sandfill, the Highways Department initiated the need,

and echoed the government’s call, to subscribe to the principle of sustainable developments.

The evolution of sustainable reclamation for the HKBCF metamorphosed from the early fully

dredge (positive waste) to non-dredge (zero waste). The team took an additional positive

measure by utilising the public fills from the fill banks as well as current rail projects.

Potentially a total of 21 million cubic metres of public fill will be generated from the various

rail projects over next 5 years. Close liaison work with CEDD, Mass Transit Railway

Corporation Limited and the team has resulted in maximum utilisation of the fill generated in

the reclamation project. This inherently resulted in the negative waste solution, and has often

been complimented as crowning jewel of the reclamation for the HKBCF.

Positive Waste

This is the conventional construction in Hong Kong, where the soft sediments are excavated

and replaced with marine/river sand, figure 8. For the HKBCF, this would involve dredging

of approximately 17 million cubic metres of soft sediments (equivalent to bulk volume of 22

million cubic metres on disposal) and replacing the exact volume of marine sand.

Figure 8 Conventional Dredged Seawall

Dredged and Fill


The mud to be disposed of can fill up about 17,600 Olympic size swimming pools. In

addition, there is also the need to procure rockfill and armours to create the seawall.

Zero Waste

Acknowledging the procurement of large amount of sandfill to replace the soft sediment is

environmentally unfriendly as well as unsustainable, the team looked into the non-dredge

option. The result is the provision of cellular cofferdam in lieu of the rockfill seawall, figure

9.

Figure 9 Undredged Seawall for HKBCF

The advantages of this method are three folds: minimise dredging the existing seabed;

mitigate the burden on existing or new dump pits; reduce consumption of marine sandfill.

Translating these set of advantages to core values: no dredging renders the seabed and its

ecology intact and hence better water quality; lesser consumption of the natural resources in

Pearl River Delta or other regions, hence preserving the natural banks of the deltaic area;

lesser marine traffic trips, meaning lesser demands/pollution from fossil fuels; and most

importantly lesser disturbance to the Chinese White Dolphins community.

Negative Waste

The use of public fill from the government’s fill banks as bulk fill material for large scale

reclamation has yet to be implemented in Hong Kong. The governing serviceable criterion to

Stone columns


limit the settlement over the design period has yet to achieve a common consensus. For this

particular project, the team has looked into, apart from the primary and secondary

consolidation, the behaviour of public fill material to achieve the ‘acceptable’ serviceable

limit. Deformation behaviour includes the creep behaviour of the public fill which consist

primarily of man-made fill, alluvium and CDG. The result is a sorted public fill material with

a maximum size of 250mm and a minimum of 60 microns, to limit the settlement no larger

than 500 mm over a period of 50 years.

In total, the usage of public fill from a fill bank in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 and MTRCL

Express Rail Line project, accounted for approximately 60% of the total reclamation fill

material. Effectively, the adoption of public fill material is essentially the re-use of materials

through consumption of construction waste (excavated spoil) generated from on-going

projects, thereby reducing the pressure to source for fill banks in land scarce Hong Kong.

The proposed non-dredge method for both the seawall construction and reclamation would

offer significant water quality benefits in terms of reduction in sediment release during the

construction phase as compared to the conventional fully dredge method. The conventional

fully dredge method would have the seawall dredging / filling and the reclamation dredging /

filling happening simultaneously although they may be at some distance apart as determined

by the length of the leading seawall. An earlier Investigation Stage design estimated the

sediment release rate to be 49,000 to 688,000 kg/day even after implementing the practicable

mitigation measures such as cage-typed silt curtain for dredging. With the proposed non-

dredge method, the sediment release due to sediment dredging would be totally removed. In

addition, since the seawall filling would be conducted totally within the casing, there would

be virtually no sediment release as well. The only component for sediment release would be

the filling activities for the reclamation. The sediment release from the reclamation filling

could be further controlled by adopting an appropriate mix of public fill and sand fill.


Figure 10 Water quality model

For the current non-dredge design for HKBCF, the sediment release rate shall be significantly

reduced when compared to that in fully dredge design for the majority of the construction

time, figure10. The peak sediment release rate would be 12% less than that of the fully

dredge method and the construction time is 5 months shorter; thereby the total release would

be 70% less. This huge reduction in sediment release would significantly further improve the

water quality impacts on the neighbouring water quality sensitive receivers during the

construction phase.

The Future Trend

The Government of Hong Kong SAR has always been an advocate of sustainable

development and has capitalised on the opportunity to steer forward with some of the policies

on this landmark project. The success of implementing innovative and safe design under the

realm of sustainability will set the guiding framework for all reclamations, in particular, the

environmental impact, the depleting dump pits and diminishing borrow pits within and

outside the territory.


Conclusion

In arriving at the final methodology for the sustainable reclamation, the team has

meticulously looked into every design and construction aspects, including stability, durability,

procurement of primary materials, supply of ‘fill’ materials, disposal of soft sediments,

marine activities, ground improvement, environmental etc. For Hong Kong, the methodology

is new and untested wherein the performance is concerned. However, the methodology has

undergone rigorous assessments, inter-departmental challenges from various government

agencies, fine tuning to circumscribe and incorporate the various tangibles. A further step

undertaken by the team to ensure the robustness of the scheme is to seek third party’s view.

On this front, Highways Department has invited Professor John Burland from Imperial

College to conduct an independent check on the design.

The final analysis of this methodology showed the following benefits for the sustainable

reclamation albeit with only marginal increase in construction cost. They are as follows:

• Reduce dredging and dumping of soft sediments by 97% (by 17Mm3);

• Reduce suspended particles in water by 70%;

• Reduce the sandfill consumption by 60% (by 14 Mm3);

• Increase public fill consumption by 25% (by 4 Mm3);

• Reduce marine traffic by 64% (by 100 day trips); and

• Shorten construction period by 3 months.

The durability of the steel cofferdam over the design life is an issue wherein marine

environment are concerned, but the team explored exhaustively the associated risks and

mitigating measures. The final analysis showed, over time, the underlying subsoil would

have gained the necessary strength against potential slips with satisfactory Factor of Safety.


The team has also allowed a strip of 100m of cofferdam to be reserved/monitored for

research of durability of steel in the marine environment through the design life.

Subscribing to the undredge methodology has a lesser impact on the water quality during the

construction period, as the seabed is virtually untouched.

The challenges ahead rely on the workmanship of the construction team to procure suitable

techniques befitting for the installation of the steel cofferdam within:

• A tight construction programme

• Site constraints, eg, Sky Pier, Marine Cargo Terminal etc

• Low headrooms due to Aviation Height Restriction (though the project team has

applied for relaxation in advance)

Notwithstanding the aforementioned benefits, the methodology for sustainable reclamation is

likely to set a trend for all future land formation works in Hong Kong. There is much work

that remains to be done in this area. Policymakers, clients, engineers and contractors all need

to factor these key variables into their decision-making. The team has taken the important

first step in providing the basis for informed approach to the vital and complex sustainable

development. Our struggle today with the question of choice may mark the dawn of that

coming day.


Reference

Bard, Solomon. [2002] (2002). Voices from the Past: Hong Kong 1842-1918. HK University

press. ISBN 9622095747

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9622095747�

towards a sustainable reclamation for hong kong · towards a sustainable reclamation for hong ......

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